Be clear-eyed about this: yes, an Alabama association covered by the Act has a lien on your lot for unpaid assessments, arising automatically from the date the assessment is due as fixed by the board at an annual meeting (§ 35-20-12(a)). That same section requires the association to give the lot owner written notice of the assessment and lien itself, by personal delivery or first-class mail, separate from any later notice about recording a lien statement. And because § 35-20-11(c) treats an unpaid penalty as an assessment, a disputed fine you never resolved at the hearing stage can end up secured by this same lien.
But the lien comes wrapped in real limits. Its priority is expressly subordinate: § 35-20-12(b) puts state and county ad valorem taxes, municipal improvement assessments, UCC fixture filings, mortgages, and deeds of trust securing an indebtedness all ahead of it, with no carve-out giving the association any priority slice over a lender the way some other states' statutes do. And § 35-20-12(c) gives the association only 12 months from the date the assessment becomes due to record a verified statement of lien with the probate judge before that specific claim lapses.
The paperwork the association has to get right, and how enforcement actually works
Section 35-20-12(c) requires that recorded statement of lien to be verified by an officer or director with personal knowledge of the facts, and to include a description of the lot, the association's name, the owner's name, the amount and date of the unpaid assessments, and any other interests or costs claimed. Before recording it, § 35-20-12(d) requires the association to give the owner (or other person obligated for the lien) at least 30 days' advance written notice by certified mail that the statement will be recorded. Skip or shortcut either the underlying notice under (a) or this 30-day certified-mail notice under (d), and the lien is vulnerable to challenge.
Unlike a self-help, nonjudicial foreclosure, Alabama's Act enforces this lien only through the courts. Section 35-20-12(e) requires the association to bring a verified complaint in the county where the lot is located, attaching a copy of the recorded lien statement and alleging the facts entitling it to the lien. Only then, under § 35-20-12(f), may the court order a sale of the property, and even that sale must be advertised by published notice, once a week for three successive weeks in a newspaper in the county (or every county the lot spans, or an adjoining county if none is published locally), stating the time, place, and terms of sale along with the lot's description. That's a real, multi-step judicial process, not an automatic power-of-sale.
The authority
The statutes behind this
Cited by name as authority, for your own reading. Informational only, not legal advice.
Ala. Code § 35-20-12(a)
Creates the association's lien on a lot for unpaid assessments from the date due, and requires written notice of the assessment and lien by personal delivery or first-class mail.
Ala. Code § 35-20-12(b)
Subordinates the lien to ad valorem taxes, municipal improvement assessments, UCC fixture filings, mortgages, and deeds of trust securing an indebtedness.
Ala. Code § 35-20-12(c)-(d)
Requires a verified statement of lien recorded within 12 months of the assessment becoming due, with specific required contents, and 30 days' advance written notice by certified mail before recording.
Ala. Code § 35-20-12(e)-(f)
Requires judicial enforcement: a verified court complaint attaching the lien statement, and a court-ordered sale advertised by published notice.
Ala. Code § 35-20-11(c)
Treats an unpaid penalty as an assessment, meaning a disputed, unresolved fine can be secured by this same lien.
Step by step
How to respond to an Alabama HOA lien notice
Steps to take once you receive notice of an assessment lien, or a recorded statement of lien, from an Alabama HOA.
- 01
Confirm the Act covers your community
Check the § 35-20-3(a) applicability gate before assuming any of this chapter's protections, or the association's lien claim under it, actually apply.
- 02
Check how you were first notified
Confirm you received written notice of the assessment and lien itself, by personal delivery or first-class mail, as § 35-20-12(a) requires, before any statement of lien is recorded.
- 03
Confirm the 30-day certified-mail notice
The association must give at least 30 days' advance written notice by certified mail before it records a statement of lien. § 35-20-12(d) makes this a separate, required step.
- 04
Pull the recorded statement from the probate office
Confirm it's verified and contains the lot description, association name, your name, and the amount and date of the unpaid assessments, as § 35-20-12(c) requires. Check the 12-month recording deadline against the assessment's due date.
- 05
Get counsel before any court sale is ordered
Enforcement runs through a verified court complaint and a judicially ordered, published sale, not a self-help process. Have a licensed Alabama attorney review a defective notice, a stale lien, or a pending sale before it proceeds.
Straight answers
Common questions
Can an Alabama HOA really put a lien on my home over unpaid dues?
Yes, if the Act covers your community. Ala. Code § 35-20-12(a) gives the association a lien on your lot for unpaid assessments from the date each assessment becomes due, after written notice of the assessment and lien.
Does the HOA lien beat my mortgage?
No. § 35-20-12(b) makes the lien subordinate to mortgages and deeds of trust securing an indebtedness (along with ad valorem taxes, municipal improvement assessments, and UCC fixture filings), with no carve-out putting the association ahead of a lender.
Is there a deadline for the association to record its lien statement?
Yes. § 35-20-12(c) gives the association 12 months from the date the assessment becomes due to record a verified statement of lien with the county probate judge.
Can the association foreclose without going to court?
No. Enforcement under § 35-20-12(e)-(f) requires a verified complaint in court and a judicially ordered sale advertised by published notice, not a nonjudicial, self-help process.